Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: PS4
Ice to see you… Latest Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel trailer features Lady Hammerlock
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel expanded today with the release of the Lady Hammerlock Pack, which adds Aurelia the Baroness to the game as a playable character. Lady Hammerlock is a master of ice-based superpowers and you can get a small taste of that in the trailer above. “On the Rocks” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
The Lady Hammerlock Pack is part of the Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Season Pass (which is priced at $29.99), but she can also be downloaded on her own for $9.99.
Reptile hisses his way into Mortal Kombat X
NetherRealm Studios has partnered with IGN to release the latest trailer for Mortal Kombat X and it features a character reveal of one of the franchise’s favorites… Reptile!
The original secret character is back with a scaly costume that looks both fresh and familiar. Almost all of Reptile’s classic special moves will be included in Mortal Kombat X including Acid Spit, Power Slide, Invisibility, and Force Ball. He’s also got a new tongue stunner that looks like a ton of fun.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14. The game is expected to include at least 28 characters, so we’re going to be reporting on a lot more of these character reveals over the next three months.
Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age 3 lead all nominees at 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards
Another major award show has announced their 2014/2015 nominees and, once again, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor lead the pack. This time, we’re discussing the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, where each game has secured five nominations apiece.
Naturally, both games are competing for the Game of the Year prize, alongside Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, and Shovel Knight. Dragon Age: Inquisition was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” and “Excellence in Design and Direction.” Shadow of Mordor is up for most of the same secondary awards, except swap out “Excellence in Gameplay” for “Excellence in Animation.”
The winners of the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 14 as part of the SXSW Gaming Expo, which runs from March 13th through the 15th in Austin, Texas. The first list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shovel Knight, Tabletop Games
The Witness reaches “Puzzle Complete” milestone, but still no release date in sight
As one of the first games presented during the PlayStation 4’s unveiling, it was originally assumed that Jonathan Blow’s The Witness would be a launch title for Sony’s new-generation console. But here we are in the first month of 2015 and the Myst-inspired puzzler is still no where to be seen. But it looks like the development team has just reached a major milestone.
In a post on the game’s News Blog, Blow wrote that The Witness is now “Puzzle Complete,” meaning that all of the game’s 677 puzzles and “high-level creative decisions” have been completed. The developers said that there’s still work to be done on some “story stuff” and “the menu system,” but for the most part, all that’s left is polishing and playtesting:
It does *not* mean that the game is done. We still have a lot to do! But it *does* mean that the nature of the work changes and becomes simpler, because we don’t have to be making high-level creative decisions any more. It is now much more about turning the finish-the-game crank (making sure stuff plays well and polishing it up) for anything related to game design, modeling and texturing.
However, the bad news is that The Witness still doesn’t have a release date. So we’ll all just have to continue to wait patiently for the game, which will launch first for the PC and PS4, then on iOS, and on “other platforms” after that.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4
Tagged The Witness
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will get Lady Hammerlock Pack on January 27
If you’ve been playing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and are eagerly awaiting the next playable character from Gearbox Software and 2K Australia, then fear not, your wait is almost over. The developer announced during this weekend’s PAX South convention that the next playable character, Lady Aurelia the Baroness, will be available to download tomorrow, January 27. Better known as Lady Hammerlock, Aurelia is the sister to everyone’s favorite adventurer, Sir Hammerlock:
Aurelia is the heir of the Hammerlock family fortune, but when she’s not riding her hoverbike through the endless hallways of her orbital turbomansion, she’s out hunting the latest and greatest game in the galaxy. If these expeditions should put her in conflict with her younger brother Alistair – aka Sir Hammerlock – all the better. The only thing more fun than shooting a rare animal Alistair intended to study is the look of abject horror and surprise on his face once Aurelia wears its carcass like a jaunty scarf.
Normally, Lady Hammerlock would never be seen within a light year of Pandora, but she’s grown bored as her turbomansion grows cold, while her lust for violence grows hot. She’s headed to Elpis with nothing more than an expensive gun, an experimental Cryo diadem, and a powerful belief that shooting angry things in the face is a good deal of fun.
The Lady Hammerlock Pack is part of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel’s Season Pass, but it can also be purchased separately for $9.99. More details on her Action Skill and Skill Trees can be found at the Gearbox Software News Blog.
Lady Hammerlock will also be included in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, the PS4/Xbox One update to The Pre-Sequel which also includes Borderlands 2, when it ships to stores on March 24.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, PAX South 2015
EA Sports predicts the Patriots will win it all against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX
EA Sports fired up their in-office copy of Madden NFL 15 over the weekend to play out their annual Super Bowl prediction matchup. According to the Madden makers, Super Bowl XLIX will end with the New England Patriots emerging victorious over the Seattle Seahawks with a final score of 28 to 24.
If EA’s prediction comes true, it will be because of late game heroics from Tom Brady, Darrelle Revis, and Julian Edelman. Revis will intercept a Russell Wilson pass to give the Patriots the ball, enabling Brady to connect with Edelman for the decisive touchdown as time expires.
Per the prediction, Brady will be further rewarded with the Super Bowl MVP award thanks to his 335-yard/four touchdown day. Edelman will lead all receivers with eight catches and 106 yards while Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch will turn on “Beast Mode” to pile up 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
If the Patriots do win it all this Sunday, it will be their fourth Super Bowl victory. However, that’s far from a guarantee as last year’s Madden Simulation completely fizzled out.
New Releases: Dying Light, HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth2: Sisters Generation
Two new releases will be available in stores this week and they are…
Dying Light is a first person zombie game from Techland (the makers of Dead Island) that will introduce a day/night cycle to the action as well as include parkour elements partially designed by David Belle, the creator of parkour. It will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Also scheduled for release next week is HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth2: Sisters Generation, a Vita remake of HyperDimension Neptunia MK2, an RPG that was originally released for the PS3 in 2012. The Vita remake will add new playable characters and minigames while also making the whole game portable for the first time.
Check back soon for more details on several new releases scheduled to launch on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop this week.
Telltale will release Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords in two weeks
Episode Two of Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation is almost ready for release. The developer unveiled the debut trailer of the second episode, The Lost Lords, today. Here’s what gamers can expect, but if you haven’t completed Episode One you may not want to read any further:
House Forrester is in disarray. Their liege lord and his heir are dead, and Ironrath is occupied by Whitehill soldiers. The survival of the family depends upon those who are left.
Placed at King’s Landing, the epicenter of intrigue, Mira Forrester must weigh her loyalty to Margaery Tyrell against the needs of her family, while choosing how to play the political games of Tyrion Lannister. One misstep could spell doom for Mira and her entire family. To the far north, Gared Tuttle finds that the wall and its crows hold little love for a squire from the Wolfswood, but finds kinship in the bastard son of Ned Stark.
Gared must prove worthy of becoming a ranger in order to carry out the mission given him; one that is vital to the future of those he serves. To the east, Asher Forrester, the exiled son, is called back to Westeros to aid his family, but how can one man help when the Boltons rule the north with an iron fist? Meanwhile, an unexpected source of hope returns to the Forresters, but Ironrath is no place for the weak.
Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords will be available to download in two weeks. PC, PS3, and PS4 players will be able to play it on Tuesday, February 3 while Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until Wednesday, February 4. All five platforms will receive The Lost Lords before Android and iOS owners, who will be able to download it on Thursday, February 5.